This is almost over-done. ‘Eyes In The Darkness’ is disturbingly layered. Even though it’s such a sweet album, there’s something deeply weird going on. Like a psycho Postal Service. ‘Loxstep’ is genius.

It’s albums like this that make me realise why I love hip hop. The pure fun with words, the imagery, the sheer playfulness of these fuckers, you have to get this album. And the excellently-inserted presenter freak-out… oh my! 🙂

My top hip hop album of this year, Esoteric is so eclectic, so omnivorous. Whether it’s Gang of Four or Numan, or Le Tigre, this album demonstrates that hip hop doesn’t need to keep trotting the same old samples out. And then marry that to his lyrics: incisive, heartbreaking, funny as fuck. A classic album

I went to see this band (click here) and even though I already loved the album, it came alive in a special way.

‘Man Alive’ covers such an enormous gamut, both musically and lyrically. Yes, it’s all indie rock / pop but there’s so much else going on here. The harmonies, the integration of the electronics (never showy, always organic), the energy that seeps out of every tiny, non-repeated noise. I hear all those things that the band have put in. And I appreciate them.

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US President Barack Obama has condemned as “outrageous” Saturday’s deadly suicide bomb attack on a town in north-western Pakistan.

A female bomber killed at least 43 people in the attack on a large crowd receiving food aid in Khar in the Bajaur region.
(Source: BBC News)

But the hundreds upon hundreds of innocent Pakistanis that the US has bombed to death in its drone attacks, he doesn’t seem to mention.

I’ve been trying to post every time the US has launched a drone attack. Here are some recent terrorist attacks carried out by the US: click here, here and here.

I’m only one person. Inevitably, I miss US attacks or don’t have enough time to post about them. But I can tell you this: the bombing attack that Obama is condemning made the front page of the BBC News website. And it was featured news on the TV.

The attacks carried out by the US, the hundreds of innocent Pakistanis it slaughters with its drones, those atrocities never make high-profile news. They don’t exist.

And thus, the myth of the carnage in Pakistan being solely caused by the Taliban is peddled to the masses. Yes, the Taliban are evil, yes, they are mass-murdering scum.

But they are mere amateurs at dealing death when compared to the US military machine.

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Please, let me sleep,
That’s all I want,
To switch this all off,
To make the noise stop.
To cut the circles,
The cycles, the eyelets,
This treadmill of being.
There’s no pleasure here,
No comfort, no warmth,
No home, no you.

Pretend, so we keep
The show on the road,
The audience amused.
Or else you might see yourself,
And you’ll be undone,
Unravelled, a woman,
Naked not nude.
Would that be so bad?
Forget I asked.

Please, let me sleep,
I won’t bother you any more.
No calls, no texts,
No fake kisses and smilies.
My friend is beautiful.
My friend is strong.
She gave me a present
To give to you,
Wrapped in love and care.
She gave me a word
To give to you,
Soaked in this summer’s honey:
No.

RANDOM – in observations over the past eighteen months, it would appear that in the 16 – 25 age group, random has now totally transitioned from being an adjective to a noun. Thus:

“She was getting with a random bloke.”

Has become the far more concise:

“She was getting with a random.”

The meaning of the word has also shifted from arbitrary, chance, unplanned, accidental to largely just meaning stranger or unknown.

*Note, there is also a trend replacing random with the new, hyper-signed noun, randomer. An interesting concatenation, mirroring the curtailment of parents into rents. But, like, with different letters.

AS IF – this phrase, which previously symbolised an expression of doubt or incredulity has now morphed subtly into a declaration of regret / surprise / annoyance, replacing ‘I can’t believe’ almost completely in my furshlugginer Facebook newsfeed. Thus:

“I can’t believe I burnt my house down by leaving the oven on when I went out!”

Becomes:

“As if I burnt my house down by leaving the oven on when I went out!”

I have also noticed an increase in the usage of the term clunge (vulva) which has resulted in a concomitant decrease in the prevalence of muff. Those findings, however, are ad hoc and await peer review.

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Had a lovely afternoon being shown round Markeaton Park by Rose – I felt a bit ashamed and embarrassed she knew loads of bits that I didn’t. But I think that’s a facet of growing up somewhere: you don’t explore. Markeaton has always just, y’know, been there.

Today, I fed a donkey for the first time in my life. It had crazy lips.